Head of Customer Operations

Who Are We?

Have you struggled to reserve that coveted summer camping spot at a state park? Wondered why you’re still filling out a paper form at the DMV? Or tried (and failed) to book your favorite pickleball court from your phone?

Kaizen Labs is rebuilding the government’s digital front door - bringing modern, people-first software to the public services millions of Americans rely on every day. From parks & recreation and permitting to licensing and payments, we’re replacing outdated systems with intuitive, beautiful technology designed for residents and the public servants who serve them.

Our platform now powers over 50 agencies across 17 states, reaching more than 30 million residents. Recent partners include Maricopa County (AZ), San Bernardino County (CA), and the Cherokee Nation. In Maryland, our platform helped eliminate seven-mile traffic jams at state parks, saving hundreds of thousands in costs and dramatically improving the visitor experience.

Founded in 2022 and based in New York City, Kaizen has raised $35 million from world-class investors, including NEA, Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital.

We’re a team of builders, designers, and operators redefining what it means to serve the public in the digital age - and we’re just getting started.

Location

This is a hybrid role based out of our New York City HQ. Candidates must be able to commute to New York City and work from our office at least three times per week (Tuesday–Thursday).

The Role

We're seeking a Head of Customer Operations to own the bridge between our customers and our Engineering, Product, and Design organizations. This is a high-stakes, customer-facing leadership role responsible for leading complex government deployments, building a proactive customer success function, and establishing the support infrastructure that ensures our customers consistently realize value from our platform.

You'll embed with our most strategic customers across Local, State, and Federal government to lead mission-critical software launches, translate operational challenges into product requirements, and build trusted relationships with government executives navigating digital transformation. This role requires equal parts technical execution, strategic thinking, and team leadership. You'll be deploying software, standing up customer success and support functions, and scaling how we deliver impact as Kaizen grows.

What You'll Do

Lead High-Stakes Customer Deployments

• Own end-to-end delivery of complex, mission-critical customer launches from scoping through go-live and sustained adoption

• Embed with government teams to deeply understand workflows, identify relevant datasets, and map critical operational questions to software solutions

• Serve as the primary technical and strategic point of contact for our highest-priority accounts during deployment

• Manage technical setup, data integration, workflow configuration, and stakeholder alignment across multiple simultaneous implementations

• Navigate ambiguous, fast-moving contexts where you define the direction and execute the work

Systematize the Deployment Function

• Develop repeatable deployment playbooks, technical documentation, and training materials that enable our deployment team to scale

• Identify patterns across customer implementations and codify learnings into scalable processes and tools

• Establish metrics, reporting frameworks, and best practices to track deployment health, customer outcomes, and team efficiency

• Maximize AI tools to build internal capabilities that improve how we scope, sequence, and execute deployments as the team grows

Build and Scale the Customer Success and Support Function

• Own customer retention, health, and expansion, establishing the frameworks, cadences, and metrics that ensure customers consistently realize value post-launch

• Stand up and scale support operations from the ground up, including triage workflows, SLAs, escalation paths, and self-service resources appropriate for government clients

• Build feedback loops between support, success, and product so customer insights and recurring issues drive systemic improvements to the platform

• Serve as the strategic voice of the customer internally, translating operational challenges into clear, data-informed feedback that shapes the product roadmap

Develop Team and Organizational Capability

• Mentor deployment strategists, customer success managers, and other team members on technical configuration, customer strategy, and operational excellence